Re-Order Discounts and File Proofing Service

Starting from the 5th of April, 2019, we’re adding some features to our quote by file service.

Re-Order Discounts

As part of our quoting process, we prepare file/s to be completely ‘laser ready’ (named and formatting ready to ‘print’ on the material requested). If you would like to re-order a file exactly the same, and in the same material as it was ordered previously, we can save time on our end and pass the saving onto you. Here’s all the details:

A $5 discount is available for re-orders.

Only applicable if the original order/s was placed past the 5th of April, 2019.

Must be referenced as a re-order when submitting for a quote, including providing the file name and the previous order number.

Can be for individual files from a previous order with more than one file.

Inclusive File Proofing Service

One of the biggest barriers we hear of that stops people from embarking on their custom laser cut journey is that they’re worried about making a mistake. We have excellent experience and knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work, and we can pass that onto our customers by offering feedback as part of our quote process. We want to help you get your best laser cuts, for the best price and quality.
As part of our proofing service, here’s what we guarantee we will look for (if applicable):

Red cut lines are the correct colour and stroke width (anything other than what’s specified in our guides won’t be read by the laser and won’t cut).

Blue engrave lines are the correct colour and stroke width (anything other than what’s specified in our guides won’t be read by the laser and won’t fine line engrave).

Your file fits within the useable material area (files with a height over 295mm (or width over 595mm) simply won’t fit within the material sheet).

Any text is outlined (any fonts in their native editable format may not appear ‘properly’).

Shapes are well ‘nested’ (such as there is at least 1-2mm between objects)

All ‘appearances’ are released (e.g. clipping masks, stroke effects, opacity is all at 100%, live paint groups, drop shadows, etc)

Economic material usage

Here’s some other issues that we can’t guarantee we’ll find, but are common errors that we can usually notice while quoting. We will let you know about IF we notice:

Overlapping shapes

Sizing is to scale. We will check the artboard is the standard 600mm x 300mm size which suggests your pieces should be the size you made them on your end. Files from other software (CAD, Inkscape) commonly scales files up or down when we open in Illustrator. And the more info you give us the better, eg, ‘the circle in the top left corner is 30mm diameter’.

Minimum cut widths

Minimum engravings widths

That there are no double cut lines (these are an easy mistake with a big impact; literally doubling your laser cut time charge AND scorching your pieces).

If we see an error, we will flick you back an email with what we’ve found so that you can modify your file/s and re-submit. Depending on our workload and how many errors we find, we may be able to change them for you, but will more commonly return your files for you to correct. Don’t worry, we’ll usually provide tips on how to correct the error/s.
Tips to get the best value for money:

If you have multiple files to quote and they’ll be cut from the same material type and colour, combine them into one file for your quote (provided they fit on one sheet). That way they’ll be lasered at the same time, saving us time and you money.

Plan to use our ‘shop’ for simple shapes e.g. circle toppers. Shop orders are easy for us to manage in house, so we can offer competitive pricing for these made-to-order items. You can choose ‘combine shipping with previous order’ at the checkout and we’ll combine postage with your vector order.

Festive Season Key Dates: Turn around times may extend over Oct-Nov. Last date to place orders will be the 13/12/19. Vector Etch will be closed 21/12/2019 - 2/1/20. Website re-opens for order 3/1/20. Laser cutting & engraving re-commences from 6/1/20.